When You're Gone
by FallingStar95
Summary: Songfic to "When You're Gone" by Avril Lavigne. Written in honor of Veteran's Day, Annabeth and her daughter anxiously wait for Percy to return home from the Navy. SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!


_**I always needed time on my own  
**__**I never thought I would need you there when I cry  
**__**And the days feel like years when I'm alone  
**__**And the bed where you lie is made up on your side  
**__**When you walk away, I count the steps that you take  
**__**Do you see how much I need you right now**_

Six months, two weeks, and four days. That's how long I had been alone.

After ages of being without him, I could barely stand the wait anymore. What if he was hurt, lying in a ditch somewhere, bleeding to death? Or maybe he was lost and unable to find any source of communication? The possibilities were endless.

He was scheduled to return home in less than a month, but I couldn't help but wonder about the possibility that he wouldn't show. It was a terrifying thought to think that he might've been killed in combat, and there wasn't anyway of me knowing until his plane flew in.

I wrung my hands nervously in my lap. I knew that many soldiers never returned from battle. Some of my friends, in fact, had lost their husbands to the war. I couldn't stand the image of Percy, dead or injured, in my mind.

I tried to remind myself that he had a better chance than some others, and many regular mortal soldiers returned from battle nonetheless. Percy was a Demigod. He would be fine.

But why hadn't he written or called in so long? The last form of communication I'd received from him was three months ago, when he'd sent a letter to both me and Elizabeth, our two year old daughter. If he were alive and well… he would've let me know, wouldn't he?

I began to worry all over again.

_**When you're gone  
**__**The pieces of my heart are missing you  
**__**When you're gone  
**__**The face I came to know is missing too  
**__**When you're gone  
**__**The words I need to hear  
**__**To always get me through the day  
**__**And make it okay:  
**__**I miss you**_

A week later, it was Elizabeth's third birthday.

"Happy birthday, Lizzie!" I exclaimed, kissing her cheek and rousing her out of bed. "Time to get up, birthday girl!"

She lifted her head from her pillow with a bright smile, throwing the covers away. "Do I get my birthday breakfast?" She asked, an adorable grin plastered across her face.

"Of course you do!" I told her, setting a plate of blue waffles with whipped cream in front of her, topped with blueberry syrup. Percy's obsession with blue food had rubbed off on her.

"Yay!" She exclaimed, about to dig her fork in, but she hesitated, the smile disappearing off her face.

"What's wrong, Lizzie?" I asked, kneeling next to her and running a hand through her curly, blonde hair, similar to my own.

"I miss Daddy." She whimpered, looking up at me with sad eyes, the brilliant sea green color that Percy's were. "Why can't he be here for my birthday?"

I sighed and patted her head. "I bet he wishes he were here, sweetie, but he can't be right now. You know that."

She nodded sadly. "When will he be home?"

"He'll be home in three weeks." I promised her.

She looked down at her waffles with a sad frown. "You pinky swear?"

I gave her a small smile and wrapped my pinky finger around hers. "I pinky swear." I told her sincerely.

Suddenly, her face brightened, and she peered out the window towards the front lawn. "The mail's here!" She exclaimed. "Maybe Daddy sent me something!"

She rushed out onto the wet lawn in her bare feet and ran towards the mailbox just as the truck drove away.

She reached inside and flipped through the various bills until she came to the end of the pile. Her wide smile disappeared, and she sank down to sit on the edge of the curb. "He forgot my birthday."

I sat next to her and gave her a hug. "I'm sure he didn't forget, sweetie. He's just busy." I assured her, although I had to admit, I was kind of surprised, too. I had really thought that there might've been something from him in the mail today. _Maybe it's late,_ I told myself. _Maybe it'll come later this week._

But nothing came… and my hopes continued to sink lower.

_**I've never felt this way before  
**__**Everything that I do reminds me of you  
**__**And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor  
**__**And they smell just like you  
**__**I love the things that you do  
**__**When you walk away, I count the steps that you take  
**__**Do you see how much I need you right now**_

The days had passed by slowly, without any word from him. I continued to remind myself that he wouldn't have much time to send letters, but I was still worried sick. After all, it just wasn't like Percy to leave me without any sign that he was alive at all. After all we'd been through as kids, I thought he'd know better. Whenever he had left camp to go on a quest, I would always tell myself that he could get out of situations like these easily. He was strong, he was clever, and above all, he was nearly immortal.

My greatest reassurance, of course, was the fact that there wasn't a chance of him dying unless he was hit in the small of his back. His Achilles Spot would keep him safe from harm, better than any bulletproof armor ever would. Still, if he was ambushed or surrounded at all angles, there was a chance that… _No! Get a grip, Annabeth, _I thought. _You're throwing everything way out of perspective._

I took a deep breath and tried to fall asleep, but it was on the verge of impossible. After all, tomorrow was the day that Percy was scheduled to come home, and I'd still received no form of communication from him whatsoever. Not anything to prove that he was coming home.

I'd tried to Iris-message him repeatedly over the past few months, but I now knew that it was no use. I always got the same response: _Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, is out of range._

I reached over to my bedside table and grabbed a picture frame that held one of my favorite photos in the world. It was a photograph taken not long after we had defeated Kronos. We were sixteen, and Percy and I sat on the beach, with the waves crashing on the shore in the background. Neither of us paid attention to the camera since Grover had snapped the shot from behind a bush. I smiled to myself, remembering how Percy had chased him across the sand when he saw the flash, shouting various death threats at him.

I hugged the picture to my chest as if it might bring me closer to him. "Please come home, Percy." I whispered to myself, finally falling asleep. "I miss you."

_**We were made for each other  
**__**Out here forever  
**__**I know we were  
**__**And all I ever wanted was for you to know  
**__**Everything I do, I give my heart and soul  
**__**I can hardly breathe  
**__**I need to feel you here with me**_

"Mommy, we've been waiting _forever!_ When's he gonna come?" Elizabeth demanded, tugging on my sleeve impatiently.

"Don't worry, Lizzie. He's coming soon, I promise." I assured her. His plane had been scheduled to land at four-thirty. Checking my watch, it was almost five o'clock, but I tried not to let it get to me. _Maybe there was just a little turbulence or something, _I thought.

Finally, as if my prayers had been answered, the gates opened, and hundreds of men dressed in military uniforms began to file into the terminal. I was among the many other women in the crowd looking for their husbands, but I couldn't see him. "Percy!" I called above the noise. "Where are you, Percy?"

Elizabeth tugged on my shirt. "Mommy… you promised that Daddy would be back." She whimpered. "Where is he?"

"Percy!" I called again, my voice more desperate. Maybe… my worst fears had become a reality. Maybe he really wasn't coming back.

I turned my back on the crowd to make my way back to my seat, but I bumped into someone on the way there. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just…" I began to say, but my words caught in my throat as I looked up at my husband.

"_Percy!" _I exclaimed happily, jumping up to wrap my arms around his neck. "Oh my gods, I've missed you so much."

"I can pretty much guarantee I missed you more." He countered, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I'm pretty sure that's impossible." I assured him, burying my head in his shoulder with a contented sigh.

"Daddy!" I heard our daughter squeal, running towards him and wrapping her arms around his leg.

He bent down to pick her up and sat her on his arm. "Hey, birthday girl!" He greeted her with a wide smile.

She grinned and kissed his cheek. "I missed you, Daddy!" She exclaimed. "Guess what? We made _blue _waffles on my birthday!"

Percy laughed. "You did? Aw, I'm jealous." He told her with a grin.

I smiled to myself as I watched the two of them. I knew that Elizabeth had missed him. What daughter wouldn't miss their father, especially when the man in question was such a good dad like Percy was.

After a dinner of homemade pepperoni pizza (with blue crust, of course), the doorbell rang, and our neighbor handed me a letter that was delivered to her by mistake. It had many different postage stamps on it, so it looked like it had gotten lost in the mail on the way.

Percy laughed. "So, that's where that birthday card went." He said, opening it and handing the card to our daughter with a smile. "Happy birthday, Lizzie."

_**When you're gone  
**__**The pieces of my heart are missing you  
**__**When you're gone  
**__**The face I came to know is missing too  
**__**When you're gone  
**__**The words I need to hear  
**__**To always get me through the day  
**__**And make it okay:  
**__**I miss you**_

_- "When You're Gone" by Avril Lavigne_


End file.
